A night out in Capeside
by age4age4
Summary: With her first semester in college almost over, Lilly Leery decides that, on the advice of Joey, she should loosen up a little and give love a shot. Alex/Lilly triangle. Slight P/J
1. Chapter 1

****

"Mom, I'm going out." I yelled upstairs before throwing my leather jacket  
over my shoulders, and grabbing my keys off the kitchen counter.

"Just make sure you're home before twelve." My mother yelled back from  
upstairs in her room, where she was probably drowning her sorrows in  
another one of my brother's depressing home made movies.

I locked the door behind me as I stepped outside and into the cool  
weather, and then I shivered when a gust of wind blew my short brown hair into my eyes.

Without hesitating, my hand went straight towards the little zip up pocket  
on my jacket, pulling out the pack of cigarettes that I knew was there.  
Lighting one up, I inhaled the sweet nicotine that flew in my mouth, knowing that this was not going to be the last cigarette of the night.

As I began my trek towards my car, I couldn't help but smirk as I saw the  
outline of my brother's old row boat still tied to the dock, where it had  
been for the last 18 years. I remember him christening it mine on my  
seventh birthday, and I also remember me telling him that the only way I'd ever be sailing away in that thing was if I needed to discard a body, needless tosay I haven't stepped one foot into the rowboat...yet.

Opening the car door to my one year old SUV, I took one last drag of my  
cigarette before throwing it out into the grass, and hopping in. That was  
one of the rules I had about my car, no one smoked, ate, drank, or had sex in  
it, including me, and if they did, their rear-ends would be plastered all over  
the front hood of my car...when I ran over them.

As I put the key into the ignition, my cellphone began to ring. Groaning,  
I flipped the overhead light on, and after quickly searching for the ringing  
distraction, I finally found it in my glove compartment. "Hello?"

"Goldie Locks, where are you? I've been waiting outside in the freezing  
cold for an hour."

I rolled my eyes at the rather dumb-as-hell greeting I got from my best  
friend Al, as I backed out of the driveway, and headed down the street to  
his house. "I'm on my way, and you wouldn't be freezing cold if you went back  
inside your house, monkey."

I could hear him grumbling to himself, about me of course, but then the  
grumbles were replaced with the chattering of his teeth, which caused me  
to become paternal. "Alex, go back inside. I'll be there in a few."

Without waiting for him to argue, I disconnected the phone call, and  
tossed my cell phone towards the back seat of my car.

Needing some distraction from the coldness that I was experiencing, I  
turned the radio on, and flipped through a few stations before I landed on a  
decent soft rock station that was playing one of my favorite oldies jams.

_Desperate for changing  
Starving for truth  
I'm closer to where I started  
I'm chasing after you_

I couldn't help but think about Alex as I sang softly along to the song,  
it wasn't that I loved him, or even liked him more than a friend, for that  
matter, but it was just that the song was based on our friendship and our  
relationship with one another, and how we would always be there for each  
other, until death do us part.

_I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and I question where to go  
And I don't know what I'm tapping into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you_

As I approached the B&B, and parked the car, I couldn't help but think about when Alex and I went off to college a few months ago. Him and I had both been scared, but we wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even to each other. It had taken a night of drinking TOO much, and ending up in bed together to help us see that there was nothing to be afraid of, and that we would be fine....as long as we had each other. I sighed as a random thought popped into my head. '_Those were the days._'

A knock on the window caused me to almost jump out of my seat, I say '_almost'_ because if I wasn't used to them already, then I would've, and because the only person I know who would be stupid enough to try and scare me, or try to put a hand on my car, was Alex.

I manually unlocked the door, letting him in, and then prepared to give him the riot act. "I hope you're happy. By you being outside in the snow, you will probably get struck by pneumonia, and have to stay inside the house for the rest of the winter break, causing ME to stay inside with you, and also causing me to get sick."

Alex mockingly put his hands to his chest, and outwardly gasped. "You were worried? I feel so..so loved."

I rolled my eyes playfully at him before leaning in, and starting the car back up. "Well, you should be, you're the only one I'll let get me sick."

He winked at me slyly as I backed up the car, and I could tell he was about to say something sexist, and like always, I wasn't let down. "Well, you could always give me something in return, something that involves your mouth on my-"

"Alexander!"

Alex stopped what he was saying, and I slammed on the brakes, as Alex's mother came running towards the car in her housecoat.

"Oh God."

I tried to suppress the laughter that wanted to escape my mouth as I watched Bessie Potter run towards my car, but as Alex winded down his window, and Bessie handed him a pot of something, that was probably for my mother, I couldn't help but giggle.

"I'm glad I caught you two, I promised Mrs. Leery that I'd give this to you when you came over, I just didn't know you wouldn't come inside."

I felt bad as Bessie used her '_disapproving_' voice, but that didn't stop my laughter at Alex being embarrassed, from escaping my mouth.

"It's..It's okay."

Bessie raised an eyebrow at Alex, as his face became darker by the moment, then adverted her eyes towards me, once I had finally stopped laughing. "Well, I'll let you kids go. You will still be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner, tomorrow night, right?"

Alex and I nodded, dreadfully, knowing that our mother's idea of a Thanksgiving dinner was to over heat the turkey, and gush over our older  
sibling's, well, older and younger sibling's accomplishments.

"Well, you two have fun." Bessie said, giving us, what I thought was, a motherly smile. "And behave."

"Goodnight, Mom." Alex said, in a slight harsh tone, before winding the window back up, leaning back into his seat, and closing his eyes, probably to block out the embarrassment.

I shortly waved to Bessie, before backing all the way out of the driveway, headed towards me and Al's favorite place.

"Warren Bar, here we come."

* * *

"Is it just me or does this place get duller every time we visit?"

I scanned the room with my eyes, taking in the soothing atmosphere, before I nodded to the few peers I knew, who sat at the bar. "It's just you, monkey."

Alex rolled his eyes at my small humor, then went off in search of the bartender.

I pulled out another cigarette from my jacket pocket, and took a seat at one of the nearest tables I saw.

"You know those things will kill you." A voice said from behind me, just as I inhaled a breath of nicotine, causing me to almost choke.

Turning around, to see who the culprit was, I locked eyes with an old friend of my brothers. "And you know sneaking up on me will kill you."

He grinned that sly grin of his that probably made girls quiver back in his day, and wrapped an arm around me, giving me a small hug. "It's nice to see you haven't changed, Lilly."

"Yeah, well, it's nice to see you have." I said, looking over his blue Jean attire. "Last time I saw you, you didn't go anywhere without your  
uniform."

Pacey chuckled huskily, before taking a sip of his beer. "Well, what can I say, I love being a cop."

I smirked at his comment, but didn't bother saying anything, knowing full-well, that he'd have a smart ass comment waiting for me.

"I leave you for two seconds, and already you've found yourself a new man."

Looking up at who made that response, I rolled my eyes, but decided to play along. "You know it's not like that, baby. You're the only man for me."

Alex glared smugly at Pacey, before putting an arm around me forcefully, and pulling me towards him. "I better be...or else."

I raised an eyebrow at him in amusement. "Or else..what?"

He got this twinkle in his eye that told me he was about to do something stupid, but any questions I had were cut off as he laid a kiss on my lips.

When he let go, and grinned down at me slyly, all I could think was: '_That boy can kiss._'

* * *

What did you think..good or bad?


	2. Chapter 2

I winced as I woke up, and sun light hit me in the eyes. 'Whose idea was it to sleep on the roof again? I sure as hell know it wasn't mine.'

Bracing myself for the heavier dose of sun light that was about to hit me head on, I opened my eyes, and turned to look at my partner in crime. 'Jack ass, wake up,' is what I should've said, but instead, I stood up, dusted my pants off, and headed inside.

Noticing the night clock on my bedroom stand, I groaned, realizing that my brother and my sister-in-law would be here, in Massachusetts, in a matter of moments. It wasn't that I couldn't stand them, it was just that I didn't understand them. Well, my brother that is, my sister-in-law Jen, and I always had mutual respect for one another, maybe because she was an outcast like I.

"Lillian, are you up?" My mother called from outside my door, probably feeling a sibling rivalry thought about to take place.

"Yeah, Mom." I called, walking to my door, and letting her in before she started to knock, and wake Alex up. "What do you want?"

My mother, who looked more like she was in her 80's than in her 60's, from having to raise me by herself, sighed, before replying in a tired voice. "Your brother and Jen are flying in from California today. Do you think you can take Mitchell and Kristina to the movies, so Dawson and Jen can rest a little?"

"Why cant you take them to Bessie's with you?" I asked her in a somewhat annoyed tone. I didn't have any plans for the day, but the idea of spending a few hours with my seven year old niece and nephew didn't sound appealing at all.

"Lillian.." My mother said, letting out a tired sigh, which caused me to roll my eyes, and give in before she put me through a guilt trip.

"Never mind, Mom. I'll take them, maybe I can blackmail Alex into going as well."

"Blackmail Alex into going where? Hey, Mrs. Leery."

Turning around, I rolled my eyes at the fake smile Alex was wearing, as he climbed through my window to stand beside me.

"Hi Alexander, I was just asking Lillian if she could take the twins out today while your Mom and I prepared Thanksgiving dinner."

Alexander smiled down at me, mischievously, knowing how much I hated kids, especially bad ones like Mitchell and Kristina. "Well, I'm sure they'll have a great time with their aunt Lillian."

"Especially since Sam and her older brother Alexander will be joining us." I said, imitating Alex's grin with one of my own, knowing for a fact that by implanting the idea of 'him and his little sister coming', into my mother's head, she'd no doubt call Bessie with the plans.

"I don't think-" Alexander began, but was cut off by my mother.

"That's a great idea. I'll call Bessie now, and tell her that I'll have you two go over and pick Sam up as soon as the kids arrive."

With that being said, my mother, turned around, and walked out of the room happier than she had been before.

"Remind me to kill you." Alex said, threateningly, before falling face down on my bed.

"Touche." I replied, before grabbing random clothes from my closet, and heading towards the shower, to start the beginning of this dreadful day.

****

"I think a car just pulled into your driveway." Alexander said, an hour later, just as we started a new round of poker. "You going downstairs?"

I looked at the hand of cards that were in my hands, and shrugged, I had two kings, two queens, and an ace, a winning hand in my book. "They know how to walk, they can come to me."

I heard, more than saw, Alexander nod as he began to examine the cards in his hands as well, but we were soon interrupted as the door to my room swung open, and my energetic niece and nephew came storming through.

"Aunt Lillie pad! Uncle Alcohol!"

Alexander and I both rolled our eyes at the nicknames the children had for us, before placing our cards face down on the bed, and turning to catch the kids in our arms before they mauled us both. "Haven't we told you guys not to call us those names ever again?"

"Yeah." Mitchell said, giggling, which caused his twin sister, Kristina, who was in Alex's arms, to giggle as well.

"Then why do you still call us 'Aunt Lillie pad and Uncle Alcohol'?" Alexander asked, causing the two kids to laugh even harder.

"Because it's funny."

"Yeah, and you two get mad."

"Oh, that explains it." I said sarcastically, as the kids continued to laugh at their inside joke about Alexander and I.

"Are you two bothering your Aunt Lillian already?" A voice called out a few seconds later, causing me to look up towards my door, at my sister-in-law, who looked to be VERY pregnant at the moment.

"That better be a basketball under your shirt."

She laughed at my comment before putting a hand on her stomach, and gently rubbing her belly. "I wish it was Lilly, but yet again, it's another rugrat for you to play with."

"Ha, Ha. Very funny." I said, before I gently pushed Mitchell out of my lap, and stood up to give my sister-in-law a hug. "You look good Jen."

She hugged me back as best as she could, with her stomach in the way that is, and then let me go so she could give Alex a hug as well. "You two look good as usual. Still playing basketball every day?"

"More like every *other* day." Alex sneered, hating the fact that he couldn't play his favorite sport all the time. "School work keeps me busy."

I rolled my eyes at that comment. He must've meant: 'Girl watching kept him busy,' because by the grades he was getting on his tests, school sure as hell wasn't keeping him busy.

"Well," Jen began, only to be cut off as a yawn escaped her mouth. "Mm..excuse me. I think I'll go take a nap in the guest room. Lillian, you and I can catch up later, right?"

I absentmindedly nodded at Jen's question, but made sure to keep my eyes on the twins, who were flipping through a stack of movies that I owned. 'They are their father's children.'

"All right. Kristina and Mitchell, you'll behave while Mommy goes and takes a nap, right?"

"We promise, mommy." The twins replied simultaneously, as they turned around, and gave Jen an innocent look, which caused Alexander and I to roll our eyes.

Jen, knowing her children's ways, mumbled a disbelieving 'Mm-hmm,' before pivoting around, and leaving the room, and leaving me with one last thought.

'This is going to be a long day.'


	3. Chapter 3

***

After a couple minutes of silently watching the two rug rats, in front of me, pawn over my small movie collection, I figured now was a better time than any to get the day's events rolling.

"So what movie did you guys want to see?" I ask, breaking the annoying silence, before mentally adding to myself that if any of the suggestions had anything to do with Speilberg, I'd be forced to shoot myself. Repeatedly.

"Daddy's movie." Mitchell replies, without bothering to look up from where he's organizing my scattered collection. "Grammy said you haven't seen it yet."

After groaning inwardly at the thought of my mother confessing that small tidbit to my smug, yet whiney, older brother, I turn towards Alex, whose eyes I can feel staring at me confused. "What?"

Before opening his mouth, Alex steals a small glance at where Mitchell and Kristina are seated; inwardly telling me his next words will no doubt be anti Dawson Leery. "Dawson made a movie?"

Not bothering to fight back my smile, I shake my head, before whispering: "No. He's IN a movie." Afterwords giving Alex a little wince as if to say the latter is far more worse than the former. _At least when my brothers' concerned it is._

"So, have you kids decided where you're going?" I hear my mother call out, before she enters my room; my grinning brother, not surprisingly enough, in tow.

"We're going to see daddy's movie." Kristina says, before anyone else can respond. Afterward's standing up and running towards her father, practically tackling his legs; an action which, in the back of my mind, makes me wonder if my dad was still alive, would I have done the same thing to him when I was around her age?

"So, your actually going to take time out of your busy schedule to see one of your big bro.'s claims to fame?"

Judging by the small grin on Dawson's face, I know he is just kidding, but that still doesn't make the small kick I feel in my stomach feel any softer.

"Yeah, well..it gives me something to tell my girlfriends at school..you know when they are suffering from, what us college students, like to call insomnia."

"Lillian!"

Even though the disapproving tone in my mother's voice tells me that I will have to apologize for my previous statement, the slight chuckle coming from Alex's mouth, and the look of hurt on my brother's face, causes me to inwardly give myself a pat on the back; figuring I have at least taken my brother's ego down a notch. For the moment, anyway.

"Sorry, Dawson." I say, not believing it myself, before turning back around towards Alex; inwardly telling him to get me the hell out of there before I kill someone.

"Well, we better get going. Mom and Sam are probably wondering where we are by now."

"Oh, that reminds me." My mother chimes in, with a look of hope, directed towards me, on her face, "Do you think you have enough room in your car to fit me and the food as well? I don't want to be a bother but I really need to head over to Bessie's now if I want to help her with the turkey."

Just as I begin to open my mouth, to tell my mother that it'd be no bother at all, my always looking for extra brownie points, brother cuts me off, stating that his rental car is much bigger than the small five seater that I drive, and that he has nothing better to do than drop our mother off at Bessie's--seeing as it'll give him a chance to catch up with Joey; who, from what Alex told me, arrived a few hours ago.

"Oh honey, that's okay, I don't want to impose on you, you just flew all the way from California. Besides, with the kids gone, you and Jen can get some much needed rest and relaxation, lord knows with another baby on the way, you'll be getting less of that."

"Don't remind me." Dawson jokingly mumbles; causing me to smile slightly--just because I can remember the pure torture that my brother had to go through a few years back when Kristina and Mitch were first born. _I hope Jen takes loads of pictures._

"Well, we better get to moving. Alexander, could you help me get the food out of the oven?"

"Will do, Mrs. Leery." Alexander states, before following my mother out of my room; absentmindedly leaving me alone with my brother and his two children from hell.

"Daddy, why doesn't Aunt Lilly pad like you?"

After inwardly groaning at my nieces question and at the slight look of amusement on Dawson's face as he tells his daughter that I do like him, and that I just am suffering from what 'grown ups' like to call PMS, I can't help but think to myself:

_This is going to be a very long day._

~*~

(An hour and a half later)

"So, how about you take the kid's into the theater while I go order us some grub."

After shooting Alexander a look that I know could freeze ice, I quickly reply, "Not even in your dreams," before signaling to Sam, Alex's eleven year old sister, that her and I will go get the snacks while Alex takes Kristina and Mitchell to their seats.

"No offense, but does your brother really think I trust him enough not to steal my car and leave me here with you and the double mint twins from hell?"

"None taken." Sam says, as we approach the movie theater's concession stand, "Knowing my brother, I wouldn't put it past him to leave us here. I can't tell you how many times before he's '_accidentally_' done it to me."

As the memory of Bessie calling my cell phone last year, only to yell at Alex--who was with me at the time--for forgetting to pick up his little sister at school, enters my head, I can't help but laugh slightly before telling the slightly older man behind the concession stand that I'd like three large popcorn's, two bottles of water, and three small cokes.

"That'll be twenty-fifty."

While reaching into my wallet to take out three nickels and two ten dollar bills, I can't help but think to myself: _Somebody's parents better be paying for this week's gas._

"Whose that with Alexander?"

Waiting until after I handed the older man his money to look in the direction where Sam is staring in, I can't help but slightly tense up as I notice just who Alex is with. "That's Jennifer. She used to hang out with your brother."

Turning back around, I pretend to watch the man in front of me fix our drinks as I wonder what my best friend and Miss. Jennifer Sanders are talking about.

_I hope nothing important...for Alex's sake._

Jennifer Sanders was the head varsity cheerleader of Capeside High's Minute men, back when I was a junior in high school and Alex was a freshman in community college. And right after the perky blond was asked to go steady by, Randy Tompskin, the Captain of the Minute men's football team, she decided to dump the supposed geeky college freshman she was dating. Which just happened to be little ole Alexander Potter.

_And the reason why if that monkey even thinks about giving her the time of day, I will slap him into next week._

"Here's your food, ma'am. You have a nice day now."

After smirking slightly at the man in front of us, Sam and I grab our snacks off the concession stand and reluctantly make our way towards theater number eight; where Alex and the kids are now heading towards as well.

"Have a nice chat?" I ask Alex, as soon as Mitchell and Kristina are in their seats; a large bag of popcorn in between the two.

"Actually, I did." Alexander replies, with a sly grin on his face; before taking a seat next to me and Sam in the row behind the terrible twosome. "Seems Jenn might be moving to Boston and was hoping to bump into me before we went back on Thursday."

"You should be so proud." I quip, sarcastically, before moving down in my seat; telling Alexander without words just how much the fact that Jennifer was looking for him pissed me off. "I'm sure it's not every day that little Miss. highlights goes out of her way to get in touch with her ex-boyfriend; the one she no doubt cheated on for a month or two."

"Touche" Alexander says, with a slight icy tone in his voice, "But she had a right to get in touch with me, she sort of needs my help."

"Let me guess, she finally got a brain and now needs help trying to figure out how to use it." I say, innocently; causing Alex to roll his eyes and Sam, who had been silently eaves dropping on the conversation, to giggle slightly.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Goldie." Alexander says, before putting a mouthful of popcorn in his mouth and continuing to speak as if he hadn't been interrupted, "But all jokes aside, Jenn just found out her grandmother has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and since no one else in her immediate family can get away from work, for the amount of time her grandmother will be in radiation, Jenn--deciding to do what any caring grandchild would do--is planning to move to Boston to help out around her grandmother's house."

_Dumbass thy name is Lillian._

Given the circumstances, I start to feel slightly bad about my previous comments. And after letting the small chatter of the people around us grow louder, I turn back towards Alexander and reply, "If Jennifer has her plan all worked out, why does she need your help?"

After taking a small sip from his water bottle, Alexander shrugs his shoulders before replying. "I'm guessing for two reasons. First off, before she gets to Boston, she's going to need to know where all the cheap stores and hospitals are and with my sense of direction almost always being on point, she knows I'll be able to get her there without any hassle."

As the lights in the theater start to go down, I nod slightly in understanding; before realizing that Alex said two reasons and he only gave me one. "What's the other reason?"

Even though it was pitch black in the movie theater, I can still tell Alex has his famous sly grin on his face; which only means one thing when it comes to him.

"That's easy...for the same reason you always hang out with me."

Without even bothering to appear interested, I say, "And that is?"

"You both want me."

* * *

B&B (Five O'clock)

"Mom! We're home."

After smirking slightly at Sam's unusually loud greeting, I hang my leather jacket up on one of the empty coat hangers, beside my mothers, and make my way towards the kitchen; where I know my favorite, non related, sister is hiding.

"Joey..."

While turning away from the cranberry sauce--that I know she's trying hard not to burn--Joey lets out a sigh of relief before closing the distance between us and pulling me into a slight hug. "Thank God, you're back. I thought I was going to have to call the fire department in a couple of seconds."

Knowing that she is only half kidding, I laugh slightly before pulling the white apron, that Joey hands me, over my head; telling my mom and Bessie--who are also with us in the kitchen--that I'm almost ready for, what Joey and I like to call, _our_ family tradition. "Yeah, sorry about that. After the movies, we had to go back to the house and pick up 'ET'. It seems that Mitchell and Kristina just cannot eat dinner without watching it beforehand."

Shaking her head in amusement, Joey mumbles, "Sounds like something my God children would say," before reluctantly turning her attention back to the matter at hand. "Okay, I've got the cranberries, sugar, and water in here, but for some reason nothing seems to be happening to them."

After studying the pan for a second, and looking up to see what temperature Joey has the stove set to, I quickly realize what the problem is. "Well, I hate to break it you, Jo. But these babies wont be able to do anything...that is, unless you turn the stove on."

Adverting her eyes away from the silver sauce pan, Joey slightly blushes as she notices that the stove top is indeed set to off. "Oops."

After smirking slightly, I turn the stove to medium heat, before following Joey out of the kitchen--towards the back porch; where I know, like every year, Bessie is going to send us, in a few minutes, so her and my mother can have more room in the kitchen to work with.

"You have a lighter?" I ask, as soon as the screen door closes behind me.

"Nope, sorry." Joey says, without a small bit of hesitation; causing me to know that she does have one, she just doesn't want me to smoke right now.

"I almost forgot, you'll never guess who Alex and I ran into at the movies." I say, after a few seconds of silence; causing Joey to raise a slight eyebrow in questioning.

"Who?"

"Jennifer Sanders."

Without even bothering to hide the disgust that is written across her face at the moment, Joey asks, "What pre tell did you and Alexander do to deserve her company?"

"Nothing." I say, before taking a seat on one of the B&B's lawn chairs and moving my hands up my arms; trying to keep myself warm. "But get this, her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer and, being the caring granddaughter that she is--as Alex calls her--Jennifer has decided to move to Boston to be near her."

"Well, that's...sweet." Joey responds, hesitantly, after registering what I just told her. "Very uncharacteristic of her, but sweet, nonetheless."

While nodding my head in agreement, I can't help but think to myself:

_That is true, which is the very reason I don't trust her._

~*~

After another couple of minutes of talking on and off about Jennifer and what we'd both do if Alexander ever tried to get back with her, the screen door slides open once again and Alex sticks his head out; telling us that dinner is almost on the table.

"Thanks. But hey, come out here and sit with us for a while." Joey says, before Alex can get a chance to close the door.

"All right, hold on." Alex replies. Afterwords, coming back with both his coat and mine. "Thought you might want this."

Off of Joey's slightly raised eyebrow, I blush slightly before saying, "That's very gentleman of you. What did you do to it?"

After smirking at my comment, Alex winks at me before saying, "Wouldn't you like to know?" Causing both Joey and me to roll our eyes; me in disgust and her in amusement.

"So, what are you two out here gossiping about, anyway? My guess is Dawson's receding hair line, but I could be wrong."

After smirking slightly, I say, "We were actually talking about you. I just finished filling your aunt in on who we ran into this afternoon."

The slight glare that Alex gives me tells me he's going to make me pay for that later, but at the moment, I really don't care. _I'm just looking out for his best interest._

"Before you say anything, Aunt Joey, I just want to make it clear that Jenn and I are not getting back together and that this is simply just a case of a friend trying to help out another friend."

"Friend my ass." I mumble to myself; unfortunately not as quiet as I thought I had been as Alex glares at me once more before opening his mouth to say something. Fortunately enough, not being able to get it out, as Joey intervenes.

"You know what this reminds me of?"

While adverting my eyes from Alex's hard ones, I shoot Joey a thank you look before saying, "No, what?"

"This reminds me of the day that you graduated high school." Joey says; meeting Alex's eyes before continuing, "You and Bess had an agreement that if you graduated with at least three B's on your report card, she'd throw you a huge party and invite everyone in town..."

"And when she did, instead of you actually participating in your own shindig, you spent the entire night out here with us; celebrating your graduation over Chinese food." I say; afterward's smiling slightly at the memory. "I never did understand why you did that."

"That's an easy one." Alex says, meeting my eyes. "It was because no one at that party, besides you two, really cared. I mean, you guys not only put your studies and work schedule on hold for three entire months to help me bust my ass and get those B's. But you also made sure I never doubted myself when the going got a little too rough. And, for that, I figured you guys deserved my attention way more than anybody else at that lame party did. It was the least I could do to thank you."

While looking down at my hands, I can't help but think to myself, that when Alex really wants to be, he can be very sweet.

_And if I don't stop complimenting him in my head, I'm going to be like all those other girls at college that I hate._

"Did you tell Aunt Jo who we ran into last night?" Alexander asks, after a second; breaking me out of my thoughts.

"No, I guess I forgot." I say; while mentally telling Alex to shut up.

It wasn't really a secret but Alex's aunt Joey used to date my brother's best friend, Pacey, on and off. And after Pacey decided to follow in his dad's footsteps and become a police officer, Joey decided that maybe it was time for her and him to call it quits--even more so after Pacey was shot in the stomach by an armed robbery the night of their two year anniversary.

_You'd think with all the times we walked in on her crying, Alex would remember that._

"We were at Warren's bar and we ran into Pacey."

After inwardly wincing, I cast a small glance at Joey and am not surprised to see on her face the neutral expression she gets when she doesn't want anyone to know what she's thinking. Or better yet, what she's feeling.

"Really? I didn't know he still lived in Capeside. How's he doing?"

"Good." I say; knowing that if Alex kept talking he'd probably say something else that I'd make him pay for later. "He had just gotten out of work and was telling us how he finally got the recommendation he wanted to transfer from beat cop to desk cop."

"So, he wont be out on the streets anymore?" Joey asks, a slight disbelieving tone in her voice, "I find it hard to believe that he's happy about that."

After shrugging slightly, Alex replies, "You can't really blame him, Aunt Jo. You can only be shot at so many times before it stops being fun."

Rolling my eyes at Alex's statement, I mentally tell him to shut up once again before saying, "Well, you have to look at it from his point of view. Pacey loves his job and probably wouldn't give it up for the world. But he also loves something more than that and that's himself."

"You got that right." Joey quips, sarcastically; causing me to roll my eyes before continuing.

"Like I was saying, he loves his job but he also loves himself. So what he's doing, from what I can tell, is refusing to give up something just because the people around him call it dangerous, and instead, he's compromising his lifestyle, so he can keep the job he wants but also make it less dangerous."

"Like a relationship?"

Meeting Alex's knowing eyes, I nod slightly before saying, "Right, just like a relationship. Because in order to be in a good relationship, you need to communicate and compromise with your partner or else you'll just end up running away from the best thing you possibly ever had. And we all know, no one wants that to happen."

After a brief pause of silence, where Alex--who knew what I was doing--took the time to give me a slight 'good job' wink in--Joey finally moves her eyes from the grass in front of me and says: "When did you two get to be so smart?"

Unfortunately though, before I can tell her that we've always been that way, Bessie comes outside telling us that dinner is ready.

Which causes Alex to perk up, before yelling, "Good, cause' I'm starved!"

***


End file.
